Welcome new visitors! As a relatively new member of the DailyKos community, I'd like to welcome you. I assume many of you are here because of the Washington Post's feature portraying left-wing blogger Maryscott O'Connor, who writes here often and has her own community blog, My Left Wing.
If you check out some of the recommended diaries (essays) here today, you'll see there's a big debate about the fairness of the story and whether it was an attempt to stereotype the Left Blogosphere as angry and extremist.
I'm not weighing in on that debate here. What I want to do is to take this opportunity to introduce you to a great community on the web.
It's a big community.... Wikipedia says the average weekday traffic here is more than half a million! We come here to get breaking news, to learn about the issues we face (using links to credible sources!), to consider the opinions of others, to share our insights (and sometimes vent), and to find out what we can do to tackle the enormous problems we're facing.
While it's true most of us here are progressives, don't assume we all see eye to eye on everything. I can't tell you how many times I've read one person's diary (essay) and agreed with him or her, only to find myself disagreeing after reading numerous thought-provoking comments that followed. This community on the web offers not only a great opportunity to learn about the world, but to learn about yourself.
Now, let's take a quick tour of the place. First, on the left side of the screen, you'll find front page "stories" by a group of DK writers who've earned that prime piece of real estate because of the quality of their diaries from the previous year. (The web site's founder, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, also posts there.)
On the right, you'll find "Recommended Diaries" followed by "Recent Diaries." Self-explanatory, yes? ("Recent" diaries move up to the coveted "Recommended" list after enough of us click on the "Recommend" button on the right side of the screen.)
At the end of each diary, be sure to click on "View Comments," then click on "Expand" and "Always" to read what others are saying about those diaries. The comments are often as enlightening as the original diaries!
Especially interested in a specific topic, like global warming, Iraq, poverty, etc.? This web site has a great search engine that will let you find all relevant stories and diaries in a flash. (The search button's in the upper right corner of the page.)
If you eventually find there are some diarists whose writing you find particularly enlightening, insightful or thought-provoking, use the search engine to find their other essays. Some outstanding contributors who pop into mind include
Jerome a Paris
Bonddad
georgia10
SusanG
...to name a few.
By the way, some of our top elected leaders also post here. They include Senators Russ Feingold, Barack Obama and John Kerry and Representatives John Conyers, Brad Miller, and Louise Slaughter. Former President Jimmy Carter also has written to us here!
Well, take a look around. I hope you'll find here what I have found: a better understanding of the big issues we face and a place to connect with kindred spirits. Many thanks to this community of caring, knowledgeable, insightful, and passionate people who take the time to explain, discuss, debate, and work together to find viable solutions. (It's not just about talking to each other, by the way; it's also about seeking support for deserving candidates or proposed laws, calling for letters to the editor and phone calls to our representatives, inviting to vigils and meetings, encouraging the purchase of illuminating books, magazines and documentaries, and, of course, urging active participation in progressive organizations.
Well, like I said at the beginning, I'm relatively new here. I'll leave it for the "old-timers" to fill in whatever I've left out and correct any errors. I hope you will find the DailyKos experience as rewarding as I have.
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UPDATE: It's been about 14 hours since I posted my diary, and I see that the first 50-plus comments (and comments about comments) have nothing to do with the diary I wrote. In fact, I would think the comments are rather confusing to newcomers. I guess a lot of folks here just wanted to have fun yacking it up with each other on a Saturday night? Or, perhaps they didn't understand the purpose of this diary was to welcome newbies to Daily Kos, help them understand how things work, maybe share our experiences, and recommend favorite diaries and authors....which, by the way, many commenters DO further downthread.
So, newcomers, please don't be thrown off. Just scroll down a ways and enjoy the welcomes and the great tips many are offering you here. :-)